Catharsis
by CalagrianKnight
Summary: Aang and Katara spend some time in peace and quiet with their first baby, Bumi. Everything seems peaceful and happy until they receive some disturbing news from Sokka. (Genderbending warning)


Peaceful was the only word to describe the home. Calm was the air in the room as Aang sat there, rocking back and forth in her rocking chair peacefully with her and her husband Katara's first baby in her arms. Their young child, Bumi, rested peacefully in Aang's arms, safely in the warm loving embrace of her mother. Bumi smiled as she slept tranquilly in her mother's loving grasp. The only sound to be heard was the crackling peaceful fire burning in the fireplace of her and Katara's vacation home in the Southern Water Tribe. Soon, Aang's husband Katara emerged from the other room in order to check in on his wife and newfound mother of his child, eliciting a smile of happiness from Aang. Katara stood beside his wife and looked at their baby happily, leaning over a little bit to get a closer look.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Aang asked heartfeltly.

"More so than I could have imagined," Katara stated in response, kissing his wife's cheek lovingly. Aang smiled and giggled a little bit, staying more or less quiet so as to not accidentally wake the baby up from her nap. As the new parents, Aang and Katara, gazed upon their new child, Bumi, the room once again grew still and silent, only the sound of the gently crackling fire burning in the background.

As the humble family relaxed quietly in their vacation home, the front door was heard creaking open, somebody entering the house and shutting the door behind them. Both Aang and Katara looked up from their previously fixated gaze on Bumi to see who it was that had entered their vacation home so suddenly. Fast paced footsteps resounded from the front foyer, and within mere moments, the one responsible for the sounds entered the once placid living room. It was Sokka, Katara's older sister. She stood there with a look of deep concern about her face. "Katara, there you are," Sokka stated in slight relief, still seeming troubled over something. "Can we have a talk? You know, just the two of us?"

"Why? What's up?" Katara wondered curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"And why can't you tell me? You've been like family to me even before Katara and I married," Aang commented, adding to Katara's pressing question.

"Please, it's just something I really need to tell Katara, Aang," Sokka calmly replied.

"Sokka, we're sister-in-laws. Whatever you can say in front of Katara, you can say to me," Aang clarified.

"Yeah, now just spit it out, sis," Katara requested.

Sokka bit her lip a bit and sighed a bit before opening her mouth to speak. "Alright. Katara, it's about mom. She's…she was sick and..."

"Sokka, what are you saying?" Katara asked, every ounce of his usual cheery demeanor drained from his words. Sokka merely knelt down and looked down, unable to remain standing from her emotions overwhelming her.

"Our mom is gone, Katara...she's dead," Sokka stated bluntly, trying to hold back tears in her eyes. Immediately as the heavy words escaped his sister's lips, Katara stood there beside his wife, frozen in shock and grief from the mere utterance of his sister's statement. Yet another silence fell over the room, but this one was different in the fact that the air was now permeated with the pure essence of bleakness and sorrow. Even Aang, who had no personal or blood stake in the situation, was overcome with awe and mourning that she too was nearly at a complete loss for words. After many seconds of dead silence, Aang finally broke the silence.

"But wait, Hakoda was just fine the the other week when Bumi was delivered," Aang stammered. "Or at least…she seemed to be when we saw her last."

"It must have been something we overlooked," Katara muttered, quietly stumbling away from Aang and Sokka.

"Where are you going, hun?" Aang asked, deep concern lining her inquiry.

"Just…nowhere really, I just…" Katara mumbled audibly before falling to one knee, staring off into nothing as his mind raced back and forth with thoughts of sadness, anger, disgust, fear, and many other negative emotions all at once. Katara hung his head low as his mind and thoughts grew more and more hazy and unclear.

"Katara? Are you alright?" Aang asked, even more uneasy at the sight of her obviously distraught husband. Aang carefully stood up from her seat, still holding her and Katara's daughter in her arms as she cautiously walked over to Katara, who began making odd noises as he remained slumped over on one knee with his back turned to his wife and sister. After a few seconds of hearing the strange sounds from Katara, Aang quickly realized exactly what was happening and what the noises were. Sobbing. Katara was sobbing quietly to himself, the weight of his sister's news hitting him harder than a hammer to the face. Soon, Katara was completely broken up about the event, eyes shut tight as he sobbed and cried uncontrollably. As KAtara had his moment of pure and utter remorse, Sokka cried a little as well, however, not nearly to the same extent as her brother as she herself had already gotten a lot of her sadness out when she first got word of Hakoda's untimely demise. Quickly, Sokka ceased her whimpers and dried her tears before walking over to her still grieving brother.

"Katara?" Sokka quaked as she reached over and placed a calming hand on her brother's shoulder.

"He's fine, Sokka," Aang replied in Katara's stead. "He just needs some time to grieve. You know how emotional he can be."

"Right, of course," Sokka agreed, removing her hand from Katara's shoulder. "I should probably go anyways, you know, help to clean up the feathers from the arctic hens outside."

"What, did they get out of their pen or something?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, but hey, this kind of thing happens down here in the South Pole I guess," Sokka explained before heading to the door. "I'll see you two later on then, hopefully on a more positive note." With that, Sokka was gone, out the door and back into the cold air of the Southern Water Tribe. Aang and Katara remained inside, Aang now placing her hand on Katara's shoulder where Sokka had had it beforehand.

"Are you feeling any better, hun?" Aang asked her husband sincerely, attempting to soothe Katara's pain.

"Why did she have to go…she and grandpa were the only ones Sokk and I had growing up after we lost dad to those fire nation raiders," Katara muttered through his overwhelming anguish.

"Katara…I know how you feel," Aang claimed. "Remember, I lost everyone my own mother figure, Gyatso. She meant the world to me and…well you saw how I reacted when we saw his skeleton all those years ago. I was sad, angry, afraid, all of that, so I can only imagine that's how you're feeling right now."

Katara sniffled and wiped his eyes of his tears, looking up slightly as he cracked open his eyes a tad. "What about Bumi? Mom was her only living grandparent that she had left. Now she'll have to grow up without ever really knowing what she was like."

"Hakoda was a great woman. She was brave and fought valiantly in battle, and even now that Bumi has to live without her being there, I'm sure she'll grow up just fine. As long as we keep Hakoda's memory alive, then I promise Bumi will get to know her, and that Hakoda will live on in each and every one of us." Aang smiled a bit, still holding Bumi in her other arm carefully as Katara sobbed a couple more sobs and turned to face his wife and child. Katara wiped his eyes once again to rid his face of any remaining tears before offering a small semblance of a smile.

"Thank you, Aang," Katara stated before hugging his wife gently. Aang returned Katara's loving embrace with one arm, the two of them remaining there for a long while as the room filled not with an air of sadness or an air of pain, but an air of catharsis.

* * *

 **WRITTEN FOR THE PRO-BENDING CIRCUIT: 1358 words without author's notes. The bonus prompts were:  
** (word) feathers  
(character) Sokka  
(AU) Gender-Bend


End file.
